1. Technical Field
Generally, the invention relates to floor care appliances. Particularly, the invention relates to a dirt collecting system for a floor care appliances such as a vacuum cleaner. Even more particularly, the invention relates to a dirt collecting means located in the dirt collecting container to prevent large dirt particles from obstructing all of the dirt collecting container thereby resulting in the floor care appliance maintaining performance longer between the emptying of the dirt collecting container.
2. Background Information
Upright vacuum cleaners are well known in the art. Typically, these upright vacuum cleaners include a vacuum cleaner housing pivotally mounted to a vacuum cleaner foot. The foot is formed with a nozzle opening and may include an agitator mounted therein for loosening dirt and debris from a floor surface. A motor may be mounted to either the foot or the housing for producing suction at the nozzle opening. The suction at the nozzle opening picks up the loosened dirt and debris and produces a stream of dirt-laden air which is ducted to a dirt collecting system located in the vacuum cleaner housing.
In conventional vacuum cleaners, the dirt laden air is ducted into a vacuum cleaner filtration bag supported on or within the vacuum cleaner housing. More recently, however, bagless vacuum cleaners have recently become prevalent in the marketplace. These bagless vacuum cleaners duct the stream of dirt-laden air into a dirt collecting system usually consisting of a dirt and a filtration means which filters the dirt particles from the air stream before exhausting the filtered air stream into the atmosphere. There have been numerous variations of these dirt collecting systems for these bagless vacuum cleaners to separate the dirt particles from the air stream. However, as the dirt collecting containers of these dirt collecting systems fill up, cleaner performance generally drops since the filter element becomes increasingly restricted with debris. There exists a need for a bagless floor care appliance wherein cleaner performance is maintained even as the dirt collecting container begins to fill with debris.
The present invention fulfills this need by providing a dirt collecting system which utilizes a disc shaped member to prevent large dirt particles from re-entering the upper portion of the dirt collecting container wherein at least a portion of a large particle filter is located in the upper portion of the dirt collecting container so that there is a portion of the large particle filter that cannot become restricted as the dirt cup or dirt collecting container fills with debris. The dirt laden airstream is then filtered of fine particles by one or more other filter members.